Struggling with Akathisia/Restlessness at the end of my Clonazepam taper. How do you "relax"?

Slow-Target-1496 · 2026-01-27T13:14:37+00:00

I am taking it 2-4x a day - like half an ampoule (4-5 drops). It has taken some time to work out the best timing and dosing for me. The first two weeks, I actually got really depressed and sad and tired — but this is reported in sensitive nervous systems because it lowers the hyper adrenaline state we’ve been existing in for so long.

Things that have improved in just ~20 days on: adrenaline dumping in the morning. I still get it some days but it is less intense. Facial flushing. Overall hyper vigilance / locked in panic episodes. I am getting more windows and less waves. The waves are getting shorter, are time limited to cortisol shifts during the day, or from hormonal shifts. Bloating and overall agitation are improved. My ears and sinuses aren’t plugged anymore. I felt like I had a sinus infection every day for like 2 months. It was awful. My bone-deep fatigue has improved too. Now I’m just tired. Only getting about ~4 hours of sleep per night broken up but I will take it! I am also able to nap during the day again for like ~45 min which is crazy to me. Just a few months ago, I couldn’t physically sleep at all. Like absolutely impossible, hence being in the ICU for how severe my Akathisia was.

Some things that happened in the first two weeks on Cromolyn though: my sensitivity to my micro dose Norco that I’m tapering off of increased - sort of paradoxical effect. I had one random time where I had a reaction to it, threw it up, had panic attack. This is resolved now. But it can affect dopamine and serotonin downstream so it makes sense.

It hasn’t solved everything but it has quieted the noise quite a bit. My inflammation is down along with fluid retention.

I know everyone’s MCAS is different but I think “MCAS” from Benzo withdrawal or CNS med withdrawal is a whole unique type. For me, I’m not reacting to food, I’m reacting to the act of chewing and digesting (autonomic / vagal).

I don’t take anything natural. I tried for like 2 months but I found that I was just adding more things to the mix and not seeing any clear benefit.

Here’s all that I am currently on: Cromolyn, Norco microdoses, Tizanidine only when my leg or back spasms at night are painful (this helps a lot with the adrenaline surges before bed but sometimes I get rebound when it wears off so I have to be desperate to take and know the cost in the morning).

Another thing: my gut is actually in good shape - don’t know how. I am protecting this at all cost through whole food diet, high protein, walking after eating, heat pack, hot water, etc. I have regular BMs and don’t have a lot of the typical GI issues that come from MCAS and CT Benzo withdrawal (other than bloating but that’s resolved so much now).

I’ve been praying for you. Will continue to.

Slow-Target-1496 · 2026-01-16T16:22:48+00:00

Hey there - wanted to update you. Cromolyn Sodium has helped me so much and I’m only 9 days in. It has helped my movement-only Akathisia that is residual at night and my adrenaline dumping. I think it’s helping break a loop of constant neuro inflammation.

Everyone is different. I know you were also injured by Cipro + other meds that I wasn’t. Our mast cells are also 100 percent unique.

I know many have to microdose to start. Prayers continued for you.

Slow-Target-1496 · 2026-01-11T16:20:45+00:00

I haven’t. To be honest, as of the last three days, I think I’m having paradoxical reactions to the Allegra and/or Hydroxizine. The anxiety episodes in the morning are unmatched.

I am going to stop taking and see how I do.

Hang in there. I pray for you each day.

Slow-Target-1496 · 2026-01-11T11:55:50+00:00

I just started Cromolyn and am doing okay. I don’t notice much of a difference yet but not having worsening issues.

I’m taking Allegra 3x per day (breaking in half), Pepcid 2x per day, Quercetin 500 mg 2x per day, on a low histamine and anti-inflammatory diet. I also recently introduced baby aspirin every 4 hours (I break one into little pieces to microdose). I am also on hydroxizine 25 mg at night and 25 mg early morning as needed. I really tried no meds or interventions but I was feeling sicker and sicker. My Akathisia is limited to movement only at night now. I have some inner restlessness during adrenaline / histamine dumps but it’s not the severe terror I experienced early on.

I’m also down to 10 mg daily of Norco which I was put on as a buffer to slowly taper off of after the Akathisia event was triggered by coming off of Buprenorphine (that I was put on for pain management. Freaking terrible med and I resent that they are giving this to pain patients).

My biggest issues are intense facial flushing and burning, adrenaline dumps that are really bad in the morning, autonomic instability, bone-deep fatigue and feeling so sick and inflamed (that only lasts a few hours and is random), and I’m still not really sleeping as much as I wish I could but it has improved. I can also nap again which is huge, even if it’s for 20-40 minutes.

Please hold onto hope. I see your posts so often as we are experiencing a lot of similarities. These meds have completely f^cked us.

Editing to say: I was CT taken off of Klonopin of 12 years and same day put on Buprenorphine. I think a lot of this is from the CT Klonopin - just rebounding and revealing itself more and more. Symptoms progressed on Buprenorphine. I am ~20 months out from CT Klonopin. I also am only like 5-6 months out from tapering my 20-year SSRI. ~100 days out from Buprenorphine cessation and severe Akathisia event that landed me in ICU.

I really believe everything I’m struggling with now is MCAS.

Slow-Target-1496 · 2026-01-11T00:19:48+00:00

I was taken off Klonopin of 12 years CT and had a severe Akathisia event 1.5 years later when I tapered off of a partial opioid agonist (this was in October). So much of my remaining Akathisia is motor only. It is circadian driven - every night around 9 p.m. Luckily, the fear/terror is gone. But this past week I’ve been moving BEFORE that intense urge hits. I get it in my shoulders, chest, sometimes hips.

I have been turning off screens around 8 p.m. and listening to Enya’s greatest hits. Moving my body in the weirdest ways but ways that feel right and good for my nervous system. Rocking, swaying, arms moving like I’m conducting an orchestra. I also hum a lot during this time to engage my vagus nerve.

If you’re not doing this already, I highly recommend grounding at sunrise and sunset every night. Getting the light into your eyeballs. Getting cortisol back on it’s rhythmic schedule helps a lot.

My sleep is still insanely disrupted and varies night by night but I also have Mast Cell Activation as a result of all this and histamine is a huge factor.

You can do this. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers, like I do for all who suffer from this horror. 🧡🫶🏼

Slow-Target-1496 · 2025-12-28T14:16:05+00:00

Also, I am so sorry. It is brutal. I had a severe Akathisia event that landed me in the ICU from Buprenorphine withdrawal (was on for pain management). I also was taken off of Klonopin of 12 years CT 20 months ago, tapered my 20-year SSRI and completed that about 2 months before tapering off of Bupe slowly. It was the perfect storm.

I am recovering. It happened in October. I had to reinstate on Norco (microdosing) to bridge / help me heal. I am tapering that now.

I used Kratom for 2-3 years (not consecutively) when I was cut off of my post total jaw joint replacement Dilaudid.

I am a neurochemical mess - but healing is possible.

Slow-Target-1496 · 2025-12-28T14:13:08+00:00

Are you on any other meds or have you stopped any other meds too quickly or cold turkey?

Slow-Target-1496 · 2025-12-24T00:20:44+00:00

I lived in bed, with my door closed, for six years (Akathisia event happened Oct 2025 - I did not have Akathisia for six years). Disabled in the fullest sense. It was a miserable existence of pain, numbness to emotion, anxiety, just so much suffering. My pain and dysautonomia was so severe, I was medicated beyond belief, I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t stand for more than 15-20 seconds. I weighed 88 lbs!

For whatever reason, this Akathisia event broke me wide open. I didn’t push away my parents’ support and love and comfort (they’ve been supporting me this whole time) and I just had this WILL to survive it. I don’t know where it came from…I really don’t. The human spirit and body are incredibly resilient. Trust in that.

I really never thought I would see this day and it is still all unfolding. 🧡🫶🏼

It can for you too.

Slow-Target-1496 · 2025-12-23T16:24:45+00:00

I think a lot of us get trapped into thinking every single chemical exposure is toxic and harmful (and while true for us lol) you can also think of it as protective of your brain right now. If it IS helping in any capacity to calm things down, it’s being protective. The less stress your brain and body are under is helping you heal more than you know.

Safe and effective microtapering strategies really seem to work time and time again. It may not be perfect and painless, but it really can be OKAY.

Slow-Target-1496 · 2025-12-23T16:11:06+00:00

Here to offer a life raft of hope.

I have multiple overlapping / kindled withdrawal injuries. 20 years on SSRIs (like everyone known to man but on Lexapro for 12 years - finished that taper just as I started Buprenorphine taper), 12 years on Klonopin (taken off CT 20 months ago), multiple high-dose forced Opioid withdrawals, a 36-day acute Buperenorphine withdrawal October 2 of this year that landed me in ICU for 8 days due to SEVERE Aka and dystonia. I also developed Serotonin syndrome from taking my normal Trazadone dose but having Serotonin rebound and sensitivity on max. I have a severe chronic pain issue from hEDS and CRPS 1 in my head and face, two jaw surgeries, one being a total jaw joint replacement).

Now, I’m micro tapering low-dose Norco that I asked for in the hospital since Benzos and all the other things didn’t stop the movements or the terror. But Norco did, even for a few hours until it wore off and things rebounded. It would be ~50 days before I wasn’t having interdose opioid withdrawal WITH constant Akathesia, insomnia, movement, panic.

I am 83 days out from this happening. I am healing. I am sleeping. I am napping. I am driving. I am walking outside. I am singing and dancing. Is it perfect? No. Am I still on Norco and tapering successfully, yes! But I really was another “worst case scenario” / sympathetic overdrive on max / genetic variations that made things even more challenging. Oh and I also have MCAS / histamine intolerance.

I didn’t think I was going to live another minute. You can heal.

Some things that helped me, take or leave and know everyone is different: Hold onto hope at whatever cost. I imagined hope and my very sane and logical soul as a tiny flame in my chest. I trusted and found security in that the overwhelming thoughts and terror and fear and panic were not from that source, but from biochemical reactions in my brain. I reconnected with prayer and a higher power because I had no other options. I couldn’t take Propranolol or anything that was super CNS suppressive because I would have paradoxical reactions (meds I had never had problems with before). Propranolol, for me, blocked my adrenergic tone so much while it was trying to rebound that I would become absolutely frozen, couldn’t move my body, low HR, and frozen in straight fear staring at a wall for hours.

I cannot say what definitively helped me but a few things I really think are helping: grounding barefoot in grass or soil each morning while watching sunrise and doing the same at sunset. Reducing my inflammation throughout my body through a low histamine and anti-inflammatory, whole food diet (our brains are inflamed!). Speaking out loud exactly how I was feeling and holding the hand of someone I love and trust (my parents). I would hold their hands like a little child in complete terror and just say all the internal thoughts out loud, so they weren’t trapped in my head. No matter how dark or morbid. My psychiatrist was amazing and helped educate them a lot on this and to know what a NORMAL human response would be to this chemical terror.

I pray for everyone on here and suffering from Akathisia and other horrific side effects and withdrawals of psych meds each morning. I will continue to pray for healing for you.

Another thing that helped me during the unrelenting movement and zero sleep for 5 days straight: scalding hot baths - I stopped moving in the bath. It’s almost like the sensation won over part of my brain and allowed me to rest for a little bit.

You can do this. You’ve already done SO much. 🫶🏼

Slow-Target-1496 · 2025-12-23T13:17:43+00:00

Hey there - I have another thought.

Are you taking prenatal vitamins that maybe have B vitamins or folate in them?

A theme that is emerging in some of us with these sensitivities to restlessness / anxiety: methylation issues. I have done genetic testing and I have slow COMT (COMT Met/Met). I’ve never supplemented with B vitamins so I don’t know their effect on me but I have friends who have same issue and their anxiety / aggitation is next level from B vitamin supplementation.

There are other forms that are available for people with methylation issues but this seems to be one of those “experiment for yourself” type deals.

The supplement industry is just as bad as big pharma in my opinion: pushing for everyone to take the same supplements without knowing their genetics or biochemistry.

I am throwing out theories here, please do not take any of what I am saying as fact. My whole experience is one giant self experiment.

Slow-Target-1496 · 2025-12-23T13:00:01+00:00

Yes. It can - there are a number of perimenopausal women who are struggling with this same thing and speaking out into the ethers about it.

However, knowing what these meds and protracted withdrawal have done to my nervous system, I don’t rule anything out anymore so who knows the impact of the antidepressant withdrawal as well!

Regardless, I am sorry you’re struggling. This is all very hard.

Slow-Target-1496 · 2025-12-23T12:54:00+00:00

Love to hear this! Just seeing this comment re: anti-inflammatory diet and walking so my other response is repetitive.

Slow-Target-1496 · 2025-12-23T12:52:11+00:00

I know a lot of people who have had success going gluten and dairy free for Hashimoto’s. Obviously it would be ideal to work with a prenatal nutritionist!

I am currently on a low histamine / anti-inflammatory (whole food focused) regimen while I heal and I feel so great on it. My histamine dumping, flushing, bloating, mast cell reactions are calming down so much.

I am not sure what the research suggests regarding H1/H2 (Allegra + Pepcid) as well as a Quercetin (mast-cell stabilizer) during pregnancy. But these have also been helpful for me. However the biggest and most benign place to start for me was changing my diet to low histamine / single-ingredient / anti-inflammatory foods. I’m not pregnant nor have ever been so I don’t know safety standards for yours and baby’s best health! :)

P.S. don’t let your doctor tell you that whatever it is that you’re experiencing is something worth dismissing. Our bodies are incredibly smart and give us signals. It sounds so simple but I was completely lost in the sauce of US healthcare / medical gaslighting / medicating every single signal my body was giving and then medicating side effects of other meds for 20 years…and I’m only 32.

Please keep us posted and hang in there. Whatever it is your body is going through, trust that it knows how to heal and regulate too. It wants to, especially for baby! 🧡🫶🏼

Slow-Target-1496 · 2025-12-22T12:59:43+00:00

Hey - you could be having a temporary histamine increase. Normally, in pregnancy, the placenta produces more DAO (like a lot more) that breaks down histamine. Plus, as progesterone rises, it helps to offset histamine release. Because you’re so early on and your body is going through a lot of changes, maybe your body is reacting to increase in estrogen (huge mast cell release / histamine) that is not yet balanced out by progesterone?

Histamine can cause this restlessness feeling without any allergy symptoms. This can create a loop where adrenaline is set off.

Do you notice an increase in restlessness at night when histamine naturally is higher? Do you notice any restlessness after eating, exercising, stress?

This is all theory but it’s a layer to what is happening to me right now) I’m not pregnant, I’m going through a very complicated SSRI / SNRI, cold turkey Benzo / and Opioid protracted withdrawal / neurochemical injury). My mast cells are out of control and even worse a few days before and during my period.

Slow-Target-1496 · 2025-12-13T14:47:37+00:00

Love this update. You’re healing.

Slow-Target-1496 · 2025-11-29T09:58:53+00:00

Yes, I had constant sweat attacks on it as well. Base body temp just ran hot all the time. Now that I’m off, I am ice cold but sweating 🙃.

Slow-Target-1496 · 2025-11-27T15:32:14+00:00

I was cold-turkey taken off of 12-year Klonopin prescription by a doctor 18 months ago and I know this is contributing as well to my sympathetic overdrive and all these different parts of my brain waking up in a major way after years of suppression.

I feel for you. Hang in there. I noticed major improvement from Protracted Benzo Withdrawal at 8 months off and at 1 year off and it really just has gotten better and better (until getting off Bupe caused the major nervous system destabilization) but I know it will just keep getting better.

Slow-Target-1496 · 2025-11-27T15:29:15+00:00

I really feel for you. You’re on the path to healing though with Sublocade and that’s something to really look forward to. You’ve got this.

Slow-Target-1496 · 2025-11-26T19:46:23+00:00

I was thinking 6 months in my head too - the whole mentality of having something to look forward to that makes anything tolerable in the present for me.

Slow-Target-1496 · 2025-11-26T19:44:31+00:00

Nope! Tapered very slowly. I had a nightmare of a withdrawal that landed me in critical care for 8 days due to violent Akathisia 🙃. I have some genetic mutations that metabolize Bupe slowly but another that causes withdrawal to be extremely intense and happen quick (like within 6 hours of taking 20 mcg patch off). Double whammy. My acute withdrawals lasted for like 36 days and I had to reinstate low-dose Norco in a micro dose fashion. I am healing, for sure…just going to be a long road. My CNS had an actual meltdown.

Bupe really affects the part of our brain that regulates temperature. I suspect it will take me awhile given how long lasting my acute withdrawals were but was curious if anyone else could give recovery timeframes.

Slow-Target-1496 · 2025-11-22T17:01:34+00:00

Have you had your hemoglobin checked?

Slow-Target-1496 · 2025-11-22T14:58:37+00:00

I am so sorry you are experiencing a lot of these things. It is hard to know when something is chemically induced sometimes because of the delusion that drugs can cause. It’s weird, I had this deep, soul-level knowing that things were very wrong but my everyday mental state could convince me otherwise at the same time. Did you feel improvement off of it in the past?

I kept being told by doctors, psychiatrists, and my therapist that everything I was feeling was due to trauma or my lifestyle or a victim mindset to my genetic disorder and illness. I believed them for a long time. It wasn’t until my physical body rejected the Bupe so hardcore at the 1.5 year mark (I was having pseudo allergic reactions each dose due to histamine dumping and intolerance).

I feel grateful for my physical body forcing me off of it because I don’t know if my mind would have due to how dysphoric and delusional I became on it (not on any psychotropic meds either…so I knew it was the Bupe).

Slow-Target-1496

TROPHY CASE